LANGENBRUCK (dpa) – Germany is well-known for its keenness for clubs, associations and societies, but Langenbruck’s “Erste Nasenclub der Welt E.V. (World’s First Nose Club) is probably one of the more eccentric organisations in the country.
Founded some 40 years ago in Langenbruck in the southern German state of Bavaria, the club currently boasts members in Japan, the United States, Italy, France and Germany.“Everybody who is a member is proud of his or her nose,” proclaims Gottfried Reichart, the vice-president of the society. “The second precondition is the ability to take a joke. If you can’t, then you can’t join.”These preconditions will also apply to the next big occasion on the society’s calendar, the fifth World Nose Championships, to be held in Langenbruck’s beer-tent in the summer of 2001, for which preparations are already in full swing.The society was founded during Germany’s carnival celebrations at the beginninng of 1961, in Gasthof Froehlich (roughly “the happy pub”), when the pub’s host – the father of the current president – the vicar, a few mechanics and hop-planters, were all sitting drinking and making fun of each other’s nasal protuberances.The measurements of mine host’s nose were taken as a guideline for the club’s statutes – a minimum length of 60 millimetres and a minimum width of 40 millimetres.“This is measured from root to tip and from nostril to nostril,” explains Reichart.Forty years ago a tape measure was used, but nowadays an electronic measuring machine, developed by several of the club’s members, is used as a schnozzle scrutiniser.This electronic hooter measurer will also be used at the next championships, which are held every five years, when the ladies and gentlemen with the most prominent probosces line up against each other.The results will then be flashed immediately on to a display screen for the waiting public and a notary will be on hand to guarantee the fairness of the proceedings. The competition is not limited to society members only, anyone with an exceptional nasal organ can participate.German actor and comedian Mike Krueger is a member of the club. “He has the longest nose in the club – 78 millimetres – but he will never be world champ,” says the club president, “he has nothing to show in the width department.” Scores are obtained namely by adding length to width.The same dismissing comment however cannot be said for the current incumbents, Marianne Otto, the reigning ladies’ world champion, who boasts a proud 111.2 millimetres and her male colleague, Josef Ostermair, who cleaves the air with a massive combined score of 119.3 millimetres.The club’s founders, one might say, had the right nose for success. The World’s First Nose Club currently has 286 members. Men and women from age 18 can join and members come from all professional levels.In the run-up to the next championships, good natured banter can be hear making the rounds. “Let your wife lead you around by the nose every day – you’re sure to win,” say some. Others recommend a liberal dose of snuff to expand the nasal tissues.This banter is in complete accordance with the statutes, where it is laid down, black on white, in the society’s charter. “The object of the society is the cultivation and furtherance of good company and humour.”